U.S., Russian Meetings Lead Up To Six Party Talks in Beijing

June 2, 2007 (LPAC) - The Six-Party talks (Russia, China, North Korea, South Korea, Japan and the United States) on North Korea's nuclear program will begin again the week of June 4 in Beijing, and U.S. special representative, Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill was already in China for bilateral meetings that began May 30.

At the same time, Russian diplomats were planning meetings in South Korea. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will visit South Korea June 4-5, for the sixth round of the 30-nation Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD) on science, technologies, education, culture, energy and transport, Novosti reported. He will also hold special talks with South Korea on North Korea, and the trilateral rail project of Russia, and North and South Korea, to link the Trans-Korean railway to the Trans-Siberian for further transportation to Europe. On June 2, the 4th Russian-Korean Conference opened in Vladivostok, to discuss energy, rail and agriculture cooperation, the Vladivostok Times reported.

The Six-Party talks were also a major topic at the June 1-2 Singapore meeting of the 6th Asia Security Summit, or "Shanghri-La Dialogue," sponsored by the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS). Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of that meeting, South Korea's Defense Minister Kim Jang-soo told Reuters on Saturday, that North Korea will close the Yongbyon nuclear facility as soon as the issue of the "Banco Delta Asia" is settled. "Once the issue is resolved, then North Korea will comply with the agreement with regard to the Yongbyon plant and also comply with the re-entry of IAEA inspectors," said Kim Jang-soo.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates is also attending the IISS meeting in Singapore, where he gave a speech.